Sherman County eNews #342

CONTENT

Notice. Sherman County Court, Jan. 4

Sherman County Court Draft Agenda, Jan. 4

Sherman County Court Notes, Dec. 21

Sherman County Senior & Community Center January Meal Menu

Links: Things to Think About & Things to Do

A happy New Year! Grant that I May bring no tear to any eye, When this New Year in time shall end Let it be said I’ve played the friend, Have lived and loved and labored here, And made of it a happy year.~Edgar Guest

1. Notice. Sherman County Court, Jan. 4

The link to the draft agenda for the Sherman County Court session scheduled for Wednesday, January 4, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. in the Circuit Courtroom at the Sherman County Courthouse, 500 Court Street, Moro, Oregon, 97039, may be seen here: http://www.co.sherman.or.us/.

During the January 4 court session, the Sherman County Court will hold a public hearing regarding the Ordinance Transferring Jurisdiction Over Establishment of Ways of Necessity to the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for Sherman County, Repealing Ordinance No. 02-2014, and Declaring an Emergency at 11:00 a.m. in the Circuit Courtroom at the Sherman County Courthouse, 500 Court Street, Moro, Oregon, 97039.

During the January 4 court session, the court will hold a public hearing regarding the Ordinance Repealing Ordinance No. 29-2005, Defining Procedure for Mass Gathering Permit Application, and Declaring an Emergency at 11:15 in the Circuit Courtroom at the Sherman County Courthouse, 500 Court Street, Moro, Oregon, 97039.

Approved minutes for the December 7 Sherman County Court session and the draft agenda for the January 4, 2017, Sherman County Court session are now available on the county website at www.co.sherman.or.us. Agenda updates will continue to be posted on the website.

3. Sherman County Court Draft Agenda, Jan. 4

4. Sherman County Court Notes, Dec. 21

~ By Administrative Assistant Lauren Hernandez

(A brief summary of topics addressed – not official minutes. For details, please see the official approved minutes posted after the January 4 court session on the Sherman County website at http://www.co.sherman.or.us)

The Sherman County Court met in regular session on December 21, 2016, and in conducting the business of the county,

heard from Christa Rude and Amber Degrange, Four Rivers Early Learning Hub, several contracts and funding recommendations have been approved by the Early Learning Hub Board; Christa explained the court was presented with the documents to create a record of the agreements so they can be referenced for accounting purposes; Christa suggested the court have county counsel review legal agreements to ensure the county’s interests are met; Commissioner McCoy expressed he does not feel the court should re-approve all documents the Early Learning Hub Board has already approved, and the court should accept the actions of the board; Amber explained Sherman County is the financial backbone of the Hub, and the finance director would like the court to approve any funds being sent out; a format similar to the Commission on Children and Families could be used, which would allow the court to review all documents and have the chance to ask questions; the court expressed it did not wish to approve contracts the board has already approved and would only like to be notified if a problem occurs; instead of having Sherman County counsel review the contracts, Commissioner McCoy suggested the Hub’s counsel should review them; Sherman County counsel reviewed and approved the original Hub agreement contract; the court does not want to review specific allocations the Early Learning Hub Board has already approved; the court can sign off on allocations and be made aware of contracts, but the court trusts the board’s decision; if a problem occurs, the board and the court will discuss the issue; if Sherman County’s county counsel reviews a contract and the county incurs an expense, Sherman County will be reimbursed from the Hub for this expense; only documents legally required to be reviewed will be reviewed by county counsel; the court requested a simple one-page summary spread sheet showing how funds are being distributed and briefly detailing the Early Learning Hub Board’s actions; Amber and Christa will look into which documents require legal review; the court approved the amendment to the Early Learning Hub Intergovernmental Agreement Sherman County has with the State of Oregon and authorized Judge Thompson to sign pending approval by county counsel;

heard from Cindy Brown and Bryan Tuck, Sherman County Extension Office, Oregon State University is working on filling Sandy Macnab’s position; the position will focus on dry land crops and hopefully will be filled within the next year; Bryan explained he would like to look into the opportunity of having an open campus in Sherman County; this would link Extension with Oregon State University and work with families to help direct kids into high education; Cindy reported she is working on end-of-the-year reports; 4-H begins in January; she continues to partner with the afterschool program to provide afterschool cooking once a week; Cindy attends various meetings as a representative of Sherman County;

heard from Katie Paul and Julie Davis, Sherman County Community Outreach, that Local Public Safety Coordinating Council Coordinator interviews were held; LPSCC is trying to decide where to locate the coordinator when working in Sherman County; funding was provided from the State of Oregon for three years for the position; the employee will work full-time between Wasco, Hood River, Sherman, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties; Association of Oregon Counties will provide the employee with a car and laptop; the Wasco Annex has space to house the employee, but Katie and Julie will look into using an empty judge’s chamber or the jury room; when the new courthouse facility is built, the employee can use the flex space;

held a public hearing regarding the Sherman County Mass Gathering Ordinance; Judge Thompson opened the hearing and explained the hearing would be continued to allow for further public comment; the court discussed the time frame during which mass gatherings should be prohibited due to fire danger; prohibiting mass gatherings from June through October was discussed; the court would like the fairgrounds to be exempt from the ordinance; Georgia Macnab, Planner, explained the fairgrounds and racetrack are automatically excluded from the ordinance as long as their events are fair and racetrack related; any private entity wanting to use either venue for an event would not be excluded from the ordinance; Judge Thompson explained, according to the ordinance, an event must continue in excess of 48 hours, including set-up and clean-up, to be considered a large or mass gathering; Georgia stated the hour limits are determined by state statute; the court emphasized it would like to prohibit all festivals in Sherman County during fire season; even fireless festivals bring fire danger with smoking, cooking, and vehicles; Georgia suggested discussing the June through October time frame with county counsel; she also suggested expanding the time frame required for application from 45 to 90 days before the event to allow for paperwork and processing; Judge Thompson stated 120 days prior to the event would be better because if there are any complications in the application process, there will be adequate time to resolve them; the court specified a large or mass gathering would be more than 250 persons at any time during the gathering; Shawn Payne, Emergency Services Director, suggested the sheriff and other emergency personnel have the chance to look at the ordinance for feedback or suggestions; the hearing will continue on January 4;

determined it needed more information about the RV Park laundry building roofing estimate and the proposal to upgrade the RV Park receptacles; Jennifer Zimmerlee, RV Park Host, will explain each proposal to the court at the next court session;

approved the Memorandum of Agreement for Building Inspection Program between the Building Codes Division through the Department of Consumer and Business Services and Sherman County to allow Mid-Columbia Council of Governments to administer the building inspection program for Sherman County and authorized Judge Thompson to sign;

re-appointed Jennifer Zimmerlee and Rick Jauken to the Fair Board, as recommended by the Fair Board, for a term of three years to expire on December 31, 2019;

appointed to the Sherman County Ambulance Service Area Plan Advisory Committee for a term of two years to expire December 31, 2018: Rick Whitaker representing Sherman County Ambulance; Renee’ Heidy, representing Frontier Regional Dispatch; Jeff Holliday, representing Rufus; and Bryan Cranston, representing Wasco;

corrected the September 7, 2016, motion offering up to $200 to North Central Education Service District for the purchase of a refrigerator and freezer to read, “Motion to approve offering up to $250 to North Central Education Service District for the purchase of a refrigerator and freezer for use for events at the Wasco Annex”;

discussed a network technology discovery survey by solutions IT in The Dalles; reviewed a letter of concern about the solutions IT proposal from Debbie Hayden, Finance Director; solutions IT has done excellent work for Mid-Columbia Council of Governments; if a proposal for a network technology audit is over $10,000, the proper Request for Proposal process will be followed; the initial assessment is free of charge; solutions IT will present findings from the assessment and give the court a proposed quote if further network assessment is needed; after the initial assessment, the court will consult with Debbie and Ron McDermid, Justice of the Peace, on the decision to move forward; the court agreed solutions IT is a reputable firm and agreed to trust the company to do the initial assessment; the court authorized solutions IT to perform an initial network discovery for no charge in order to get a complete picture of technology used by the county, to recommend solutions to any problems found, and to formulate a quote based on the size and complexity of the network assessment needed;

authorized budget transfers/payments, including $57,905 from General Fund, $69,950 from Renewable Resources, $1,477,187.14 from Community Service Fees Fund, and $5,259,189 from SIP Additional Fees Fund for a total of $6,864,231.14 as recommended by the Finance Director and authorized Judge Thompson to sign;

approved writing a letter to the insurance company of McDonald’s in Biggs to explain why water service went down between November 28, 2016, and December 1, 2016, and authorized Judge Thomson to sign;

discussed a Cottonwood State Park Planning Department request, consideration of referral of transferring Way of Necessity cases to Circuit Court, and a Wasco Annex proposal;

heard reports from court members about regional board activities.

5. Sherman County Senior & Community Center January Meal Menu

Sherman County Senior & Community Center

Meal Menu

January 2017

We serve lunch at 12:00, noon sharp. First come, first served.

If you have a group of 2 or more, please let the Kitchen staff know at #565-3191, the day before to ensure that we make enough food to serve!

ATTENTION: For those who have food allergies, be aware that a large variety of foods are prepared in the kitchen. Therefore, meals may be prepared with ingredients and food service equipment may come in contact with ingredients to which you may have an allergic reaction, such as nuts.